Stephen Belafonte and Mel B's daughter Phoenix put on a united front for Christmas Eve shopping spree amid claims he 'wielded a gun in front of her'

It's been claimed that Mel B's daughter Phoenix reportedly felt 'scared' of her step-father Stephen Belafonte when he wielded a gun in front of her.

But Stephen, 39, moved to play down any rumours of a rift between him and the 15 year old as he broke his social media silence to share a picture of them both doing some last minute shopping on Christmas Eve.

As Stephen smiled for the camera and Phoenix pulled a funny face, he wrote: 'Me and @phoenixisphoenix getting last min Christmas shopping done!! #tisstheseason.'

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Family fun: Stephen Belafonte moved to clear up reports he and step-daughter Phoenix have been having problems as he posted this fun Christmas Eve snap of them together

While they looked like the perfect family in the snap, US court documents from a custody case between the former Spice Girl and her ex Jimmy Gulzar include the gun claims made by her mother Andrea Brown.

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'Phoenix told me Stephen had a gun and that he had scared her with it,' Andrea allegedly said in 2009, according to documents obtained by The Daily Star.

Fearful? Mel B's mother Andrea Brown claimed in US court documents that her granddaughter Phoenix was 'scared' of step-father Stephen Belafonte for waving a gun in front of her, according to new reports

Eldest: The claims were made in 2009 during the custody battle between Mel and Phoenix's father Jimmy Gulzar

Estranged: Andrea and Mel stopped speaking a year after her marriage to the American film producer

'While at Danielle's, Phoenix said that Stephen told her that when she was 16, he is going to throw her out of the house.'

Andrea - who is estranged from her eldest daughter - also said: 'I was shocked at this time to hear Phoenix say she hated her stepfather Stephen and I dismissed this as a result of her having to share mum with him and sister Angel.

'But Phoenix has never spoken like that about Mel's other partners.'

Stephen has a history of criminal convictions including the assault of his ex-lover Nicole Contreras as well as killing a duck.

And he recently slammed speculation from fans of Mel's on Twitter that he had hit her after she appeared on the X Factor with what appeared to be bruises.

'You can only re-mix ten things, ten ways, so many times,' he told MailOnline.

'Who accused me of it, did she accuse me of it, the police, the hospital, who accused me of it?

He added: 'I thought when you beat someone up the police or the hospital or the person you beat up says it.'

It was reported that Mel had left Stephen before she was rushed to hospital with stomach pains, which caused her to miss the first live show on December 13, during The X Factor final weekend.

The X Factor judge - who wed the producer in Las Vegas in 2007 - returned on Sunday December 14 for the last show, though her bruised and scratched appearance left her fans worried about her well-being.

A spokesperson for Mel B declined to comment.

Unwanted: Andrea also claimed that Pheonix said she disliked Stephen, who allegedly told her he wanted to kick her out of the house when she turned 16

This latest news comes after reports that Mel is ready to divorce Stephen after he took their daughter to America with their nanny.

The X Factor judge, 39, is said to have had enough of the 'furious rows' with the American film producer.

'She knows this isn't the easiest option. It's going to be tough,' a source told the Daily Mirror.

'But she knows her marriage is over.'

Last week Belafonte, flew back to America, taking their three-year-old daughter Madison, and their nanny with him

Furious: Stephen flew to America with his and Mel's daughter Madison and her nanny, leaving Mel furious

He had been staying in San Diego, 200 miles from the couple's lavish Hollywood home but was spotted in LA last week.

'Mel is raging that Stephen thought it OK to go off with Madison like he has,' the source added.

'She's in bits about this. It's the final nail in the coffin as far as her ­relationship with Stephen is concerned.'

So far Mel has yet to publicly speak about her hospital stay, illness, and the state of her marriage, though Belafonte has constantly denied any wrongdoing and has insisted that he and his wife are on good terms.

The former Spice Girl hasn't tweeted since December 11th, the day she was rushed to hospital for treatment.

Happier times: Earlier this month the couple put on a united front at the Victoria's Secret show in London

As Christmas Day approaches, it was unclear whether Mel would spend it with all three of her children, though it is believed she and her older daughters Phoenix and Angel are currently finding a low key property to hide out over the festive season.

However, with Stephen now being seen with Phoenix, it seems likely the family have reunited for Christmas.

Meanwhile, Stephen's brother Jeremiah Stansbury, 41, has blasted the film producer as 'violent' and 'ruthless' and urged Mel to leave him.

Blasted: Stephen's brother Jeremiah Stansbury, 41, has blasted the film producer as 'violent' and 'ruthless' and urged Mel to leave him

Speaking to The Sun on Sunday, he said: 'I know Steve - he's cold, he's hard and he's violent. Mel should look after her inner health and that will never happen around Steve. He will destroy her.'

Jeremiah also called his brother a ticking time-bomb and while he admitted he had no evidence of Stephen ever physically assaulting Mel, he spoke about Stephen hitting his ex, Nicole Contreras.

Soon after their wedding Mel had to defend her husband's past when it emerged that he had battered his common-law wife Nicole during a drunken row at their home in 2003

The film producer attacked the mother of his daughter Giselle, now 10, in what was described as a 'malicious and unlawful' drunken frenzy

He did not contest the charge, which the judge said was the same as a guilty plea, and said: 'This happened crazily, one drunk, retarded night.'

He was accused of vandalising Nicole's phone by spitting into it but this was dropped.

Later he said he did not realise that he had admitted battering his ex-partner, saying that the admission came at a moment when he was 'confused and stressed'. But this plea was rejected.

While partying with his wife in 2010, Belafonte was involved in a fight with three men at the luxury five star May Fair Hotel. One man was left needing hospital treatment following the incident.

But Mel B stood by her burly husband, claiming he was only acting in her defence.

Jeremiah also revealed his hopes that Mel will reconcile with her family, who she fell out with over their disapproval of Stephen.

And he claimed the couple have no prenuptial agreement and are obsessed with porn and sex, alleging that Stephen showed off their huge range of sex toys.

In 2010, Melanie told her America's Got Talent co-judge Howard Stern that she and her husband were soulmates because 'we're both perverts'.

She later reiterated the point to The Guardian, telling them: 'Well, everybody sees the word pervert as something different, and I don't want to tell you what my pervert-ness is, or what his is. It's nothing too extreme, it just works. Let me put it this way, we're just very sexually compatible in every way. We think very much alike, and we get turned on by the same things.'

Stephen denied his brother's claims to The Sun.

Claims: Stephen has fiercely denied claims from fans on Twitter that he physically abused his wife